The present invention provides for a method and an apparatus for controlling multiple semiconductor wafer cups. At least one process run of semiconductor devices is processed. A multi-wafer-cup process analysis is performed upon the processed semiconductor devices. At least one control parameter is modified for a subsequent process run of semiconductor devices using results from the multi-wafer-cup process analysis.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A method, comprising: performing at least one process run of semiconductor devices; performing a multi-wafer-cup process analysis upon the processed semiconductor devices, said multi-wafer-cup process analysis comprising correlating identification data relating to said semiconductor devices from a plurality of cups, with metrology data relating to semiconductor devices from said plurality of cups; and modifying at least one control parameter for a subsequent process run of semiconductor devices using results from said multi-wafer-cup process analysis.
2. The method described in claim 1 , wherein performing a process run of semiconductor devices further comprises processing semiconductor wafers.
3. The method described in claim 2 , wherein processing semiconductor wafers further comprises performing a photolithography process on said semiconductor wafers.
4. The method described in claim 1 , wherein performing a multi-wafer-cup process analysis upon the processed semiconductor devices further comprises: processing semiconductor wafers in a first wafer cup; acquiring identification data associated with said semiconductor wafers in said first wafer cup; acquiring metrology data associated with said processed semiconductor wafers in said first wafer cup; correlating said acquired metrology data relating to said semiconductor wafers in said first wafer cup with said identification data; processing semiconductor wafers in a second wafer cup; acquiring identification data associated with said semiconductor wafers in said second wafer cup; acquiring metrology data associated with said processed semiconductor wafers in said second wafer cup; correlating said acquired metrology data relating to said semiconductor wafers in said second wafer cup with said identification data; comparing said correlated metrology results of semiconductor wafers from said first wafer cup and said second wafer cup to a predetermined standard; and performing modification of control parameters in response to the comparison of said metrology results.
5. The method described in claim 4 , wherein comparing said correlated metrology results of semiconductor wafers from said first wafer cup and said second wafer cup to a predetermined standard further comprises comparing said correlated metrology data to a predetermined critical dimension value.
6. The method described in claim 4 , wherein performing modification of control parameters further comprises: acquiring error data from said comparison of metrology data to said predetermined standards; determining if said error data is inside a deadband; and modifying at least one control input parameter based upon a determination that said error data is not inside said deadband.
7. The method described in claim 1 , wherein performing a multi-wafer-cup process analysis upon the processed semiconductor devices further comprises: processing semiconductor wafers in a first wafer cup; acquiring identification data associated with said semiconductor wafers in said first wafer cup; acquiring metrology data associated with said processed semiconductor wafers in said first wafer cup; correlating said acquired metrology data relating to said semiconductor wafers in said first wafer cup with said identification data; processing semiconductor wafers in a second wafer cup; acquiring identification data associated with said semiconductor wafers in said second wafer cup; acquiring metrology data associated with said processed semiconductor wafers in said second wafer cup; correlating said acquired metrology data relating to said semiconductor wafers in said second wafer cup with said identification data; comparing said correlated metrology results of said semiconductor wafers from said first wafer cup to correlated metrology results of said semiconductor wafers from said second wafer cup; and performing modification of control parameters in response to the comparison of said metrology results.
8. The method described in claim 7 , wherein comparing correlated metrology results of said semiconductor wafers from said first wafer cup to correlated metrology results of said semiconductor wafers from said second wafer cup further comprises comparing at least one critical dimension value from metrology data associated with said first wafer cup with metrology data associated with said second wafer cup.
9. The method described in claim 7 , wherein performing modification of control parameters further comprises: acquiring error data from said comparison of correlated metrology results of said semiconductor wafers from said first wafer cup to correlated metrology results of said semiconductor wafers from said second wafer cup; determining if said error data is inside a deadband; and modifying at least one control input parameter based upon a determination that said error data is not inside said deadband.
10. An apparatus, comprising: a computer system; a manufacturing model coupled with said computer system, said manufacturing model being capable of generating at least one control parameter input signal; a machine interface coupled with said manufacturing model, said machine interface being capable of receiving process recipes from said manufacturing model; a first processing tool capable of processing semiconductor wafers and coupled with said machine interface, said first processing tool being capable of receiving at least one control input parameter signal from said machine interface; a first wafer cup coupled with said first processing tool for receiving semiconductor wafers, wherein said first wafer cup is capable of applying a photoresist material onto a semiconductor wafer; a second processing tool capable of processing semiconductor wafers and coupled with said machine interface, said second processing tool being capable of receiving at least one control input parameter signal from said machine interface; a second wafer cup coupled with said second processing tool for receiving semiconductor wafers, wherein said second wafer cup is capable of applying a photoresist material onto a semiconductor wafer; a metrology tool coupled with said first processing tool and said second processing tool, said metrology tool being capable of acquiring metrology data; a metrology data processing unit coupled with said metrology tool and said computer system, said metrology data processing unit being capable of organizing said acquired metrology data and sending said organized metrology data to said computer system; and a controller operatively coupled with said computer system, said controller to perform a multi-wafer-cup process analysis, said multi-wafer-cup process analysis comprising correlating identification data relating to said semiconductor devices from said first and second cups with metrology data relating to semiconductor devices from said first and second cups.
11. The apparatus described in claim 10 , wherein said computer system is integrated into an automatic process control system.
12. The apparatus described in claim 10 , wherein said manufacturing model is integrated within said computer system.
13. The apparatus described in claim 10 , wherein said first processing tool is capable of performing a photolithography process.
14. The apparatus described in claim 10 , wherein said second processing tool is capable of performing a photolithography process.
15. The apparatus described in claim 10 , wherein said first wafer cup and said second wafer cup are capable of simultaneous operation.
16. The apparatus described in claim 10 , wherein said metrology tool is capable of acquiring critical dimension data.
17. An apparatus, comprising: means for performing at least one process run of semiconductor devices; means for performing a multi-wafer-cup process analysis upon the processed semiconductor devices, said means for performing said multi-wafer-cup process analysis further comprising correlating identification data relating to said semiconductor devices from a plurality of cups, with metrology data relating to semiconductor devices from said plurality of cup; and means for modifying at least one control parameter for a subsequent process run of semiconductor devices using results from said multi-wafer-cup process analysis.
18. A computer readable program storage device encoded with instructions that, when executed by a computer, performs a method, comprising: performing at least one process run of semiconductor devices; performing a multi-wafer-cup process analysis upon the processed semiconductor devices, said multi-wafer-cup process analysis comprising correlating identification data relating to said semiconductor devices from a plurality of cups, with metrology data relating to semiconductor devices from said plurality of cups; and modifying at least one control parameter for a subsequent process run of semiconductor devices using results from said multi-wafer-cup process analysis.
19. The computer readable program storage device encoded with instructions that, when executed by a computer, performs the method described in claim 18 , wherein performing a process run of semiconductor devices further comprises processing semiconductor wafers.
20. The computer readable program storage device encoded with instructions that, when executed by a computer, performs the method described in claim 19 , wherein processing semiconductor wafers further comprises performing a photolithography process on said semiconductor wafers.
21. The computer readable program storage device encoded with instructions that, when executed by a computer, performs the method described in claim 18 , wherein performing a multi-wafer-cup process analysis upon the processed semiconductor devices further comprises: processing semiconductor wafers in a first wafer cup; acquiring identification data associated with said semiconductor wafers in said first wafer cup; acquiring metrology data associated with said processed semiconductor wafers in said first wafer cup; correlating said acquired metrology data relating to said semiconductor wafers in said first wafer cup with said identification data; processing semiconductor wafers in a second wafer cup; acquiring identification data associated with said semiconductor wafers in said second wafer cup; acquiring metrology data associated with said processed semiconductor wafers in said second wafer cup; correlating said acquired metrology data relating to said semiconductor wafers in said second wafer cup with said identification data; comparing said correlated metrology results of semiconductor wafers from said first wafer cup and said second wafer cup to a predetermined standard; and performing modification of control parameters in response to the comparison of said metrology results.
22. The computer readable program storage device encoded with instructions that, when executed by a computer, performs the method described in claim 21 , wherein comparing said correlated metrology results of semiconductor wafers from said first wafer cup and said second wafer cup to a predetermined standard further comprises comparing said correlated metrology data to a predetermined critical dimension value.
23. The computer readable program storage device encoded with instructions that, when executed by a computer, performs the method described in claim 21 , wherein performing modification of control parameters further comprises: acquiring error data from said comparison of metrology data to said predetermined standards; determining if said error data is inside a deadband; and modifying at least one control input parameter based upon a determination that said error data is not inside said deadband.
24. The computer readable program storage device encoded with instructions that, when executed by a computer, performs the method described in claim 18 , wherein performing a multi-wafer-cup process analysis upon the processed semiconductor devices further comprises: processing semiconductor wafers in a first wafer cup; acquiring identification data associated with said semiconductor wafers in said first wafer cup; acquiring metrology data associated with said processed semiconductor wafers in said first wafer cup; correlating said acquired metrology data relating to said semiconductor wafers in said first wafer cup with said identification data; processing semiconductor wafers in a second wafer cup; acquiring identification data associated with said semiconductor wafers in said second wafer cup; acquiring metrology data associated with said processed semiconductor wafers in said second wafer cup; correlating said acquired metrology data relating to said semiconductor wafers in said second wafer cup with said identification data; comparing said correlated metrology results of said semiconductor wafers from said first wafer cup to correlated metrology results of said semiconductor wafers from said second wafer cup; and performing modification of control parameters in response to the comparison of said metrology results.
25. The computer readable program storage device encoded with instructions that, when executed by a computer, performs the method described in claim 24 , wherein comparing correlated metrology results of said semiconductor wafers from said first wafer cup to correlated metrology results of said semiconductor wafers from said second wafer cup further comprises comparing at least one critical dimension value from metrology data associated with said first wafer cup with metrology data associated with said second wafer cup.
26. The computer readable program storage device encoded with instructions that, when executed by a computer, performs the method described in claim 24 , wherein performing modification of control parameters further comprises: acquiring error data from said comparison of correlated metrology results of said semiconductor wafers from said first wafer cup to correlated metrology results of said semiconductor wafers from said second wafer cup; determining if said error data is inside a deadband; and modifying at least one control input parameter based upon a determination that said error data is not inside said deadband.
27. An apparatus, comprising: a controller adapted to perform a multi-wafer-cup process, said multi-wafer-cup process comprising correlating identification data relating to a wafer from a plurality of cups, with metrology data relating to wafers from said plurality of cups.
28. The apparatus of claim 27 , further comprising: a computer system; a manufacturing model coupled with said computer system, said manufacturing model being capable of generating at least one control parameter input signal; a machine interface coupled with said manufacturing model, said machine interface being capable of receiving process recipes from said manufacturing model; a first processing tool capable of processing wafers and coupled with said machine interface, said first processing tool being capable of receiving at least one control input parameter signal from said machine interface; a first wafer cup coupled with said first processing tool for receiving wafers, wherein said first wafer cup is capable of applying a photoresist material onto a semiconductor wafer; a second processing tool capable of processing wafers and coupled with said machine interface, said second processing tool being capable of receiving at least one control input parameter signal from said machine interface; a second wafer cup coupled with said second processing tool for receiving wafers, wherein said second wafer cup is capable of applying a photoresist material onto a semiconductor wafer; a metrology tool coupled with said first processing tool and said second processing tool, said metrology tool being capable of acquiring metrology data; and a metrology data processing unit coupled with said metrology tool and said computer system, said metrology data processing unit being capable of organizing said acquired metrology data and sending said organized metrology data to said computer system.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
July 25, 2000
April 15, 2003
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